Solar heater



c. A. scoTT April 13, 1943.

SOLAR HEATER Filed June 29,` 1940 lnk.

f AJ Illa Patenied Apr. 13, 1943 N'UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE' SOLARHEATER Clifton A. Scott, North Miami Beach, Fla., assignor to Sun-RayHeater Company, North Miami Beach, Fla., a partnership Application June29, 1940, Serial No. 343,281

(Ci. 12s- 211) 2 Claims.

This invention relates to solar heaters and is an improvement overmy'copending application, Serial No. 330,215 filed April 17, 1940, forSolar heaters.

An object of this invention is to provide a solar heater formed of apair of relatively large dan insulating air space between the bottom ofthe housing and the plate.

A further object of this invention is to provide a solar heater with arelatively thin heat absorbing plate which is fixed to a water heatingcoil, the plate being provided with means for not only supporting theplate and the coil in spaced'relation to the bottom of the housing, butalso for forming non-communicating air chambers which constitute anadditional heat insulating means in the housing. I

A still further object of this invention is to provide a solar heaterwith a water heating coil and a heat absorbing inner wall, the innerwall including means integral therewith for supporting the inner wall inspaced parallel relation to the outer wall, and in addition providing aminimum of contact points with the outer wall so as to reduce the heattransfer therebetween.

A further object of this invention is to provide a heater of this typewhich is capable of producing hot water of a higher temperature in ashorter time than' is possible with available heaters of the same type.

A further object of this invention is to provide a heater of this typewinch may be readily pack- `ed for shipment before installation andwhich wil1 not easily become damaged by rough handling during shipment.

To attain the foregoing objects and others which may hereinafter appear,the invention consIsts of the novel construction, combination and whichfall withinV the scope of the invention as claimed.

In the drawing:

Figure l is a detail top plan partly broken away of a solar heatingsystem constructed according to an embodiment of this invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 2-2of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional vie'w`taken on the line3--3 of Figure l.

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary `detailed sectional viewillustrating the manner in which Aa manifold is secured to the upperface of the heat absorbing plate.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral III designates generally a heatinsulated storage tankor reservoir which is connected as'by a pipe II toa source of cold water supply. An outlet hot waterpipe I3 leads from thestorage tank or reservoir I0 and is adapted to be connected to suitableoutlets (not` shown) and which may be disposed at selected points in adwelling or other building. A solar heating member generally designatedas I2 is connected to the storage tank III, being connected at one sideby means of an intake pipe I4 and being connected at the opposite sidewith the storage tank IIi by means of an i outlet pipe I5.

The heater I2 comprises a casing I6 formed of a bottom wall I1, sidewalls I8 and end walls I9. The casing or housing I6 is preferably formedof -metal and a heat insulating bottom 20 is disposed within the housingI6 and engages the inner surface of the outer bottom I1. Upstanding heatinsulation members 2lv are disposed 1 upon the upper end marginalportions of the arrangement of parts as will be more specificallyAreferred to and .illustrated inthe accompanying drawing wherein areshown embodiments of the invention, but it is to be understood thatchanges,

variations and modifications may beresorted to bottom member 20 andpositioned against the inner surfaces of the end walls I9. A pair ofupstanding heatinsulation members 22 are disposed upon the upper sidemarginal portions of the bottom member 20 and positioned against theinner faces of the side walls I8. The side walls I8 and the end walls I9at their upper edges are each formed with a substantially invertedL-shaped flange 23 including a horizontal leg 24 engaging over the upperedges of the side and end members 2|, 22 and a vertically disposed leg25, at the inner side of the leg 24 extending` downwardly against theinner faces of the side and end members 2|, 22. 'Ihe anges 23 secure themembers 2|, 22 to the walls of the casing and also act to maintain themember 2II upon the bottom. I1.

A transparent top wall 2| is positioned over the horizontal legs 24 ofthe flanges 23 and preferably a cushioning gasket 21 is interposedbetween the under side of the transparent top wall or panel 26 and thesaid upper legs 24.

A rectangular retaining or securing member generally indicated at 28 isemployed for maln- I taining the top wall or panel 26 in position over sin the housing I6. The plate 41 constitutes an the open top of thecasing or housing I6. The

member 28 is of frame-like form and its body is of angle-shaped contourin cross section thereby providing a horizontally disposed upper part 29and a vertically disposed outer part 38 depending from the outer edge ofthe part 29. The part 29 of member 28 overlies the marginal portion ofthe wall or panel 26. The part 38 opposes the edges of the wall or panel26, depends below the latter and is positioned against the upper portionof the outer faces ofthe side and end walls I8 and |9. The upper part 29of the panel securing downturned part 3| which is adapted to contactwith the upper surface of the panel or wall 26 so as to thereby form aresilient fastening means for resiliently holding the panel or top wall26 on the upper edge of the housing I6. By providing a resilient holdingor clamping means of this kind, the housing I6 and the component partsthereof may be permitted to expand or contract under varyingtemperatures without cracking or breaking the transparent panel or wall26. The part 30vof'the top wall securing member 28 is secured as byfastening devices 32 -v member 28 is formed at its inner edge with a 4to the side and end walls-I8 and I9 and preferably the part 30 is formedat its lower edge with an outwardly offset apron or ashing 33 which isoutwardly offset from the adjacent face of a side or end wall so as tothereby permit a metal flashing to be inserted-between the offset part33 and the adjacent side and end wall of the housing I6.

An intake manifold 34 is disposed within the wall I8, being positionedin slightly spaced relation with the adjacent faceof a side wall. Anoutlet or exhaust manifold 35 is disposed closely adjacent the oppositeside wall I,8 of the housing I6 and is positionedV in parallel relationto the intake manifold 34. The' intake manifold 34 is connected to the,outlet pipe I4 from the storage tank I8 and the outlet manifold 35 isconnected to the return pipe I5 which discharges hot Water into thestorage tank I0. Preferably the interior of the housing I6 is `formedwith a plurality of transversely disposed-parallel spaced partitions 36which divide the interior of the housing I6 into a plurality of heatingchambers 31, 38, 39 and 48.

nected together at one end by means of an arcuate stretch 45. One member44 of each pair of parallel stretches is connected by an arcuateconnecting member 45 to a succeeding stretch 44, the arcuate stretches45 being alternately disposed as shown in Figure 1 so as to provide .acontinuous coil of substantial length between the two manifolds 34 and35.

project from the end 2,a:ia,191

inner bottom which is disposed in parallel and spaced relation to theinsulated bottom member 28 and provides the bottoms of the heatingchambers 31, 38, 39 and 48. The plate 41 is constructed of metal, suchas copper or the like and the coil 4| is also preferably constructed ofsimilar material. The marginal portions of the plate 41 are bent uponthemselves to form depending vertically disposed outer -edge supports,reinforcing members or ribs which seat on the member 28 and bear againstthe lower portions of the inner faces of the members 2| and 22. Withreference to Figure 2 the members 48 at the endl of the plate 41, whichbear against theinner faces of the members 2| are shown. The supports,reinforcing members or ribs 48 will b e hereinafter re.- ferred vto asribs. The ribs 48 form combined spacing and supporting means for thesides and ends of the plate 41 with respect to the bottom -members 28.

The plate 41 is formed with downwardly extending ribs 48 which extend inparallel relation between the opposite sides of the plate 41 andcorrespond in height to the height of the ribs 48 and these ribs 49 areformed integral with the plate 41. Each rib 49 comprisesv a pair ofparallel face abutting stripsf58 which are formed integral with the bodyof the plate 41 and which are connected together at their lower ends byan arcuate connecting part 5|. The ribs 49 as well as the ribs 48, attheir lower edges. are adapted to rest on the upper surface of themember 28 and form a supporting means for the intermediate portions ofthe plate 41 so that this plate may be formed of relatively thin sheetmetal. The ribs 48 are of the same form as the ribs 49. The ribs 48, 49not only support the plate 41 in spaced parallel relation to the bottomwall 28, but also reinforce the plate 41 against bending. In addition toreinforcing and supporting the plate 41.

the ribs 49 constitute dividing walls for dividing the air space betweenthe plate 41 and the bottom wall 28 into a plurality of dead airchambers 52, 53 and 54. It will be understood that while there aredisclosed two ribs 49 for supporting the plate 41 below each heatingchamber, there may be more or less of these ribs depending only on thesize of the coil 4 I and thickness of the plate 41. The upper surface ofthe plate 41 and the exte rior of the coil 4I is adaptedto be coatedwith a heat absorbing coating such as black v'material in the form ofpaint or enamel so that when the suns rays strike the coil 4| and theplate 41, the

heat from the rays will be absorbed by the coil pass from the intakemanifold 3 4through thel several coils into the outlet or hot watermanifold 35 under thermal action. In other words, where there are fourcoils in a housing, the intake and outlet manifolds'will have acapacitysubstantially equal to four times the capacity of one coil.

The manifolds 34 and 35 as shown in Figure l are extended through one ofthe end walls I9 and the ends of these manifolds may be closed by capsThe heating coil 4| is adapted to'be xed by 76 55 and 56, respectively.By extending the manifolds 34 and 35 through the adjacent .end of the l2,316,191 yhousing I6, additional heatin-g units may be coupled with themanifolds for discharge into the storage tank IIJ. It will also beunderstood that if desired, the pipes I4 and I5 may be connected to theends of the manifolds 34 and 35 which have the caps 55 and 56 mountedthereon. y In the use and operation of this solar heating means, aheater I2 is adapted to be positioned on the exterior of a building in aposition to receive thesuns rays. The storage tank I may be pcsitionedremote from the heater I2 and may be positioned in theinterior of abuilding at any suitable point. The pipe Il will maintain the storagetank I0 filled at all times and place the l water in this tank under thedesired pressure.

heated water through the outlet pipe I 5 into the,

storage tank III.

Through the .provision of vthe inner. bottom provided by the plate 41which is of heat absorbing capacity, a dead air space will be providedbetween this bottom 41 and the insulated bottom 20. In this manner thetemperature of the insulated bottom 20 and the outer bottom I1 will notmaterially affect the temperature of the inner bottom 41 particularlyduring the initiall contact of the inner bottom 41 with the suns rays.vIn this manner the heater hereinbefore described will produce heatedwater more quickly than is possible wherein the'coil contacts at allpoints with the insulated bottom or where there is 'no dead air space toinsulate the heat absorbing inner bottom from the insulated bottom ofthe housing.

, Furthermore, bythe provision ofthe narrow supporting reinforcing ribs49, the plate is in heat exchanging relation with the insulated lbottomalong a very small edge so that the temperature of the insulated-bottom20 will not materially affect the temperature of the inner heatabsorbing bottom 41. A solar heater constructed according to thisinvention will heat a given quantity of water more quickly than heatersat presentI available and inaddition will heat Athe water to a higherdegree for a given period of time than heaters of a similar type. Bysecuring each coil 4I and each manifold 3'4 and 35 directly to the'heatabsorbing'plate 41, the coils 4I and the manifolds 34 and 35 willalso reinforce the inner bottom 41 and 'in addition the attachment ot'the coils and manifolds to the inner bottom by solder or other permanentfastening means, the unit will be stronger so that 4it will withstandharder usage during the shipment of the unit to the point ofinstallation than the devices at present available. l

What I claim is:

l. In a solar heater having an open top casing formed of bottom, side,and end walls, and a closure for the casing provided with a transparentpanel, the combination 'of a bottom member of insulating material seatedon the casing bottom and bearing against the inner faces of the casingwalls, upstanding members of insulating material seated on said bottommember and bearing against the inner faces of the casing side and endwalls, means'for securing said upstanding members to said casing sideand end walls and on said bottom walls, said means comprising anintegral flange portion bent at right angles from the top peripheraledgeof saidside and end walls and a depending flange portion bent at rightangles from the inner edge of said first named flange portion, saidwalls and said flange portions forming a U-shaped member which enclosesthe upper edge of said upstanding members, an imperforatc' heatconductingrplate disposed-within the casing below the top of the latterand above said bot-v tom member and bearing against saidupstandingmembers, said plate having a substantially 4 smooth upper4 face andhaving depending vertically disposed spaced parallel ribs seating onsaid bottom member, saidplates, ribs, and bottom member defining closedspaces disposed in parallel relation below said plate, partitionscoacting with said upstandin'g members and plate to form parallelheating chambers, water heating tubes each positioned withina heatingchamber and having its bottom secured to the upper face of said plate, a`cold water manifold extending through said casing end walls and saidchambers in proximity to a side wall of the casing, and a hot Watermanifold extending through said casing end Walls and said chambers inprbximity to the other side wall of the casing, saidmanifolds beingsecured upon said plate and connected to each of said tubes.

2. In a solar heater having an open top casing formed of bottom, side,and end walls, and a closure for the casing provided with a transparentpanel, the combination of a bottom member of insulatingmaterial seatedon the casing bottom and bearing against the inner faces of the casingwalls'upstanding members of insulating material seated on said bottommember and bearing. againstthe inner faces of the casing walls', meansfor securing said upstanding members to said casing side and end wallsand on said bottom walls, an imperforate heat conducting plate disposedwithin the casing below the top of the latter and above said bottommember and bearing against said upstanding members, said plate having asubstantially smooth upper face and having dependingv verticallydisposed spaced parallel ribs seating on said bottom member, said`plates, ribs, and bottom 4member defining closed spaces disposed inparallel relation below said plate, partitions coacting With saidupstanding members and plate to form parallel heating chambers, waterheating tubeseach of said tubes.

. CLIFTON A. sco'r'r.

